Efrlaocaster Fanning, Saturday, June.l, 1991
Produce Vigorous Poults Through Breeder Management
Lynn G. Bagley, Ph.D.
Director of Research
And Development
Hybrid Turkeys, Inc.
Editor’s note: This was pre
sented at the Pennsylvania
Turkey Conference, March 20,
1991.
Breeder management can be
broken down into three areas. The
first area is brooding. Brooding
usually involves the first six to
eight weeks of the turkey’s life.
The second area is growing and
conditioning. This takes the breed
er up to the age of lighting, which
is usually around 29-30 weeks of
age. The last area of breeder man
agement is the egg or semen pro
duction period. This period starts
at the time of photostimulation and
ends at the time the breeders go to
market.
The performance of a breeder
flock can be affected at any age by
mismanagement. Actually the
management of a breeder flock
begins before the poults arrive at
the farm. The bam should be thor
oughly cleaned, washed, and disin
fected before the poults arrive.
Brooder rings should be already
set up and the bam should be ready
to receive poults. It is extremely
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important that the farm manager is
prepared for the poults to arrive.
Conditioning of the breeders
start at an early age. At Hybrid we
put roosts in the brooder bams as
early as three weeks of age. Roosts
help the breeder to get the proper
exercise thoughout their life. We
believe a “fit” breeder is the key to
success in egg production.
Another essential item for a
breeder manager to remember is to
reduce the amount of stress the
breeder gets at any age, but espe
cially the poults. The effects of
stress are too often forgotten as
they have a cumulative effect on
the breeder. In other words,
today’s breeder seems to be less
forgiving of mismanagement
The growout and conditioning
period requires the manager to
always pay attention to details. Lit
ter, ventilation, density, lighting
programs and feeding programs
are vital for the manager to manage
properly. Selection usually occurs
during this time. Effective selec
tion pressure on males can
improve the market weight of the
commercial progeny by several
pounds. Healthy males will also
provide good, viable semen.
Viable semen contributes to a
healthy vigorous poults.
Another important part of the
growout and conditioning period is
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the darkout time. The length of the
darkout period has to be long
enough to provide time to com
plete new feather growth. We at
Hybrid Turkeys feel that this is a
mimium of 12 full weeks.
Biosecurity is the key to any
breeding program. All breeder
manager should have a biosecurity
program in place that will protect
the breeders that he manages.
Showers should be an essential
part of any breeder biosecurity
program. Biosecurity in a breeder
flock is a lot like going to heaven
nothing you do will guarantee
100 percent success, but if you
work to put the odds in your favor,
you’ll like the results.
Body weight and age at photo
stimulation will affect the perfor
mance of the breeder. A breeder
manager should consult the man
agement guide from his breeder
source to determine what is recom
mended. Research at Hybrid sug
gests that hens photostimulated at
30 weeks yielded the most poults
per hen at 15 weeks of egg produc
tion compared to sisters photosti
mulated at 28,32, and 34 weeks of
age.
Hatch time can affect poult
quality and hatch lime is affected
by breed and stage of production of
the breeder flock, among other
things. For example, there could be
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as much as 6 to 8 hours difference
in hatch time between breeds.
There is a tremendous amount of
stress to the poult when it is over
heated in the hatcher. These
stressed poults are usually the ones
that flip on their backs and are too
weak to right themselves.
Research measuring blood glucose
is showing that this is a good mea
sure of the poults reaction to stress.
The stage of production and hatch-
Overlooking Disorders Can Be Costly
DEKALB, 111. Com growers
often overlook minor seedling dis
eases and disorders early in the
season. That oversight could cost
farmers yields and profits, said
Tim Wolf, regional agronomist for
DEKALB Plant Genetics.
Some diseases are not yield
threatening and disappear as com
plants continue to grow. Other dis
eases explode under favorable
conditions and can decimate
stands and weaken surviving
plants.
“For that reason, diseases and
disorders detected during any field
scouting trip should be identified
and evaluated for damage poten
tial,” said Wolf.
If seedlings are spotted, striped
or dead, one or more foliar dis
eases could be responsible, he said.
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34c per word per week - 1 or 2 limes
28c per word per week - 3 or more times
'll word minimum
1 Time 2 Times
3.74 7.48
4.08 8.16
4.42 8.84
4.76 9.52
5.10 10.20
5.44 10.88
5.78 11.56
6.12 12.24
6.46 12.92
6.80 13.60
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up to 11
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ing process will greatly influence
the quality of the poult.
Breeder management starts ear
ly and doesn’t end until the birds
goes to market. It is quite an
involved process which can’t all be
covered in this paper. The chal
lenges are great with today’s turk
ey breeder, but the opportunities
and results are well worth the
efforts.
Farmers can get help identifying a
disease from an extension agent or
a seed company agronomist The
best source, however, is a diagnos
tic lab, the agronomist said.
Seedlings are subject to other
problems, too. “Stresses can be
induced by inadequate or exces
sive fertility, improper or exces
sive application of insecticides or
herbicides, and insects or mechan
ical damage from wind or imple
ments,” Wolf said.
When leaves roll or twist
together into “onion leaf’ or “bug
gy whip,” a herbicide reaction is
the first thing to investigate, he
said. But calcium deficiency or
sharply alternating hot and cool air
temperatures can cause very simi
lar symptoms.
3 Times
9.24
10.08
10.92
11.76
12.60
13.44
14.28
15.12
15.96
16.80